nina turns 40

life or death

Why does choosing a kindergarten for your kidlet feel like a life or death decision? In Seattle, you can choose any school in the district, with priority given if you live near the school you choose. I live in a very culturally monochromatic neighborhood these days, and although the schools are very good in my "cluster", there's virtually no racial diversity here, and since the kidlet is bi-cultural and bi-lingual, and currently goes to school with kids of all colors and family backgrounds, I'd like to preserve that if at all possible. I thought I had one picked, but now one of the Alternative schools has caught my eye. It uses the Expeditionary Learning/Outward Bound framework, which I'm just learning about, but appeals to me very much. Just wait until it becomes time for him to go to college...

How does that old saying go? If you love something, set it free...

global elections

Wendy over at allseasons caught my eye with her link to Boycott Bush.net. Wanna know which corporations are giving Bush the big bucks? Go check it out. It's a UK based site, but to me that makes it all the more interesting. We tend to forget, in our endless USA arrogance and isolationism, what a big impact fucktard has on the rest of the world, and beyond just the folks he's bombing. I saw someone propose (sorry, I don't remember where) that the entire world should be allowed to vote for the president of the US. I like the idea, I like it a lot. Think how the face of US politics would change. Literally. I bet it wouldn't always be so white. Which brings me to one of my favorite questions. Which will come first, a white woman or a black man as US president?

I'm in this weird state of mind where I feel like writing longer more thoughtful posts but I don't have the time to devote to it, so I end up with rather half assed commentary like what I wrote this morning. There are big, complex issues on my mind, and I'd love to explore them here, but the endless lament of any single parent (hell, any parent) is always, but when? If my posts do sound trite or not quite complete, chalk it up to that, and not to a lack of wanting to thoroughly explore the issues I bring up. I usually don't have too many conclusions anyway. A lot of the fun is in finding the interesting questions to ask.

On a completely different note: one of the dads at the kidlet's school got a Mini! A totally sportin' red and white one. And his kidlet fits in the back just fine. I don't usually lust for cars--I've always just driven whatever hand me down used thing came my way, but a Mini is a machine I can get hot for.

I'm fascinated by intercultural relationships, be they between countries or individuals. I like watching what happens when two worlds collide. On a personal level, how do people from different countries and cultures form lasting bonds with each other? Of all the women that I know who have married or had children with men from other countries (and in my limited sample this usually means Mexico) only one is still together with him. Two women that I know are coming to me for advice about dealing with the difficulties of leaving the realationships that they are miserable in, and I wish I had some good news for them. As tough as it is living with somone who views the world through a differnt cultural lens than you, it's that much tougher to have an amicable divorce (which is what you're aiming for when you want to still raise your kids together).

My theory is that in those relationships that do work one of the partners adapts to the other's culture, they learn it, embrace it and become absorbed into it.

I have many more thoughts on this subject, but I'm running late for work as usual...

The relentlessness of desire

In a rare turn of events, I don't feel like saying anything. I can't get this Paul Simon lyric out of my head, though: The open palm of desire wants everything, everything.

I had so much fun today! The kidlet had a playdate at his best buddy's house, so I grabbed my camera and went for a walk, shooting all the way. In Seattle there is a canal that connects two inland lakes to the salt water of Puget sound. This makes driving the surface streets a pain in the ass, especially during the summer as there are many drawbridges to cross, or wait for, as the case may be. But if you own a boat or like to walk, it's lovely. The thing that's so cool about wandering about and taking fotos is not so much getting good shots, which is fun, but that you start to look at and eventually see things differently. There is beauty all around you that you hadn't noticed before, subtle colors, delightful patters, interesting juxtapositions that weren't apparent before, but now call out to you to capture them in your little box. Just looking around becomes exciting, and you fall in love with the world again.

hill o' beans

Not sure what happened, but my beans didn't turn out very well. They roasted beautifully, but the coffee I've brewed from them has not been good. Way too acidic, no body, and when I made espresso in my little red stove top vacuum pot this morning it was horribly bitter. Since I've only ever roasted two small batches, I'm sure at least part of the fault is mine, but I'm wondering a bit about my source beans, too. I'll keep playing around with it, right up until my neighbors come pounding on the door wondering what all the damn smoke is about. In other coffee news, one of my favorite indulgences for my coffee is dark muscovado sugar, which is grown here and is the most amazing, complex, dark, and delicious sugar you'll ever lick off your fingers. It's bittersweet, heavy with molasses, and carries the unmistakable mark of the volcanic soil in which it was grown. Yummy.

keep your laws out of my uterus

Thanks to Chris at Uffish for reminding us that yesterday was the 30th anniversary of Roe v Wade (OK, and NARAL has been emailing me about it, too, but they send me so many, I don't always pay close attention. BAD nina). With fucktard in office, our reproductive rights are in serious danger. Go to Uffish and read her post--she's got tons of good links for more info and on how to take action, and as always, she simply gives good blog.

my fun night

9:45pm I'm tired. Go to bed early

10:30pm Upstairs neighbors decide to have a stomping and yelling party

midnight Get up to pee

1am Kidlet is restless, comes to sleep in mama's bed

2:30am Mama takes kidlet back to own bed after he has squirmed constantly for the last hour and a half

4am Kidlet announces that he has peed the bed (Mama thanks sweet lord jeebus that she put him back in his own bed)

6am Time to get up!